Real-World Efficacy of N95, Surgical, and Cloth Masks in Mitigating SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Infections: A Comprehensive Comparative Study

Real-World Efficacy of N95, Surgical, and Cloth Masks in Mitigating SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Infections: A Comprehensive Comparative Study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Real-World Efficacy of N95, Surgical, and Cloth Masks in Mitigating SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Infections: A Comprehensive Comparative Study Jun Cai, Ying Yan, Zhigeng Pan, Adrian CHEOK This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3087700/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The effectiveness of different types of masks in mitigating respiratory infections, particularly those caused by SARS-CoV-2, has been a topic of significant interest during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive comparative analysis of the real-world efficacy of N95, surgical, and cloth masks in reducing the transmission of respiratory infections. Using a large sample size and rigorous data collection methods, we evaluated the protective capabilities of each mask type by assessing the number of infections among individuals wearing these masks in various settings. Our findings reveal that N95 masks exhibited the highest level of protection, followed by surgical masks and cloth masks. However, even cloth masks provided a significant level of protection compared to no mask usage. The results of our study underscore the importance of widespread mask usage as a critical public health measure to control the spread of respiratory infections. These findings have significant implications for public health policies and highlight the need for continued adherence to mask-wearing practices. Health sciences/Health care/Disease prevention/Lifestyle modification Health sciences/Diseases/Infectious diseases/Influenza virus Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3087700","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":211594056,"identity":"05dc5cc9-04c0-4272-96a0-ba80cd6fb4b0","order_by":0,"name":"Jun Cai","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jun","middleName":"","lastName":"Cai","suffix":""},{"id":211594057,"identity":"e9ed3742-0a03-40d6-b2d3-0168b5db311d","order_by":1,"name":"Ying Yan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ying","middleName":"","lastName":"Yan","suffix":""},{"id":211594058,"identity":"4318d201-1014-416a-b303-038b52a5bffd","order_by":2,"name":"Zhigeng Pan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhigeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Pan","suffix":""},{"id":211594059,"identity":"bd1e80ff-5f99-4b13-ac29-3e7f9ac0bca3","order_by":3,"name":"Adrian CHEOK","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA5UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFCCBIYDYJKBjfEBkMHDR4oWZgOQFjZitEBJNjYJEIugFv723IcHfu6wy+Nnb0ur/JpjJ8PGwPzw0Q08WiTOPDc42HsmuViy59ix27LbkoEOYzM2zsFnzY00hgO8bQcSN9xIb7stuY0ZqIWHTRqfFnmgloN/gVr2A7UUS26rJ6zFAKjlMNgWibRjjB+3HSasxfDMM4bDsm3JiTPOHEuWZtx2nIeNmYBf5I6nMX9822aX2N/eZvjx57Zqe3725oeP8XofGTDzgElilYMA4w9SVI+CUTAKRsGIAQAVhEu1OtT5PgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6316-2339","institution":"iUniversity","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Adrian","middleName":"","lastName":"CHEOK","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-06-20 13:56:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3087700/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3087700/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":38967099,"identity":"f255d2b4-575c-4a73-86b5-fb47484081b0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-23 08:42:24","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":170031,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"mask.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3087700/v1_covered_cec10f2d-645c-480a-8be1-5f80b9ce55df.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Real-World Efficacy of N95, Surgical, and Cloth Masks in Mitigating SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Infections: A Comprehensive Comparative Study","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3087700/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3087700/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe effectiveness of different types of masks in mitigating respiratory infections, particularly those caused by SARS-CoV-2, has been a topic of significant interest during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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